Cited in the case of September 28, 2009 massacre in a stadium in Conakry, former Guinean Head of State Moussa Dadis Camara has returned to his country after several years of exile in Burkina Faso. Along with ten other defendants, he will answer in court on Wednesday, September 28, 2022, for his alleged responsibility in the massacre 13 years ago.
He whose trial is held this Wednesday, September 28, 2022, arrived early this Sunday in Conakry, according to his lawyer Antoine Pépé Lamah. Moussa Dadis Camara is staying in a secret villa, according to one of his relatives. The return of the former strongman of Guinea after several years of exile in Burkina Faso, is part of his trial to be held on Wednesday, September 28, precisely 13 years to the day after the killings in the large stadium in Conakry, the capital. One hundred and fifty-six people were executed, thousands were injured and hundreds of women were raped.
Dadis Camara and ten others in the dock
Former President Moussa Dadis Camara and ten other defendants appeared in court Wednesday. Among them, Colonel Abdoulaye Chérif Diaby, Minister of Health at that time. All of them must therefore answer for the abuses committed on September 28, 2009, when an opposition rally in a stadium in Conakry was brutally suppressed.
A return to clear their name
Antoine Pépé Lamah, lawyer of the President Moussa Dadis Camara, explains that his client has always asked to return to the country to speak his mind. According to him, it was the authorities at the time who did not make things easy for him.
“Today, thanks to the will of the new political authorities, this trial is finally taking place. This is an opportunity for Captain Moussa Dadis Camara to clear his honor, dignity, and integrity, which have been seriously tarnished by the allegations surrounding these events…“, said serenely Me Antoine Pépé Lamah before specifying that “the captain has no agreement with anyone“.
Initially, 15 senior army officers were charged. Two were dismissed and one died. They will be only 12 in the dock facing victims waiting to know the truth.
Moussa Dadis Camara led Guinea from December 23, 2008 to December 3, 2009 following the death of President Lansana Conte. It was thanks to a putsch, of which he was the leader, that the intervention of the military interrupted the constitutional process that would have seen Aboubacar Somparé take over as interim president. Unable to continue due to his health, Moussa Dadis Camara officially renounced power on January 15, 2009.
